


Ghost of our pasts

by Belekoroz



Series: Modern AU [1]
Category: The Silmarillion and other histories of Middle-Earth - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: Awkward roomates, Celebrimbor doesn't know his roommate is Sauron, Gen, Humor, Hurt/Comfort, Really idk what im trying to do here, THERE IS NO SHIPPING, The redemption fic no one asked for, awkward family charades, like really awkward, more tags to be added later, only friendship, poor guy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-11-07
Updated: 2018-02-20
Packaged: 2018-08-29 14:42:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 8,207
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8493844
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Belekoroz/pseuds/Belekoroz
Summary: Mairon is reembodied in the modern time, alone and confused, he somehow ends up as roommates with an oblivious Celebrimbor.





	1. Chapter 1

Mairon awoke in pain, which was something he wasn't entirely unused to, given his line of work, but it wasn't the right type of pain. No, it wasn't the 'You've been stabbed multiple times pain', it was the 'you've been knocked over the head and just woken up' type of pain, which generally meant kidnapping.

He lifted his head slowly, the pounding thankfully decreasing, and looked around. He was in an alley, at least he thought as much, as it did not look much like any alleys he had seen. He stood quickly, making his way down the alley towards the light at the end and halted in shock. He must have had one heck of a long nap.

\----

Mairon wandered the streets for a while, and had managed to delve into the minds of the humans around him to understand the basics of this society, and it wasn't hard to see that he was pretty screwed. It was winter, it was getting late and he was weak, way to weak. Ideally, after he had awoken, he should have allowed his powers to regenerate, but the first thing he did was exert himself, and now he was going to pay for it.

\----

Mairon found himself a small crevice between buildings and wedged himself into it, that coupled with the thick cloaks he had at least blocked out the wind, but living in scalding hot conditions had not conditioned him to the cold and he found himself shivering none the less.

"Young man... Do you have somewhere to stay tonight?" A concerned voice above him sounded suddenly.

Mairon looked up quickly and let out a scared whimper, shoving himself farther into the crevice, the only thought going through his mind was that he was going to die. "Olórin I- I" He trailed off, staring up at the looming form of Gandalf.

Gandalf stared down at Mairon before smiling softly. "There is no need to look so frightened Mairon." He said, kneeling slowly before him. "You never answered my question. Do you have somewhere to stay tonight?" He asked again, offering out his hand.

Mairon stared at Gandalf, wide eyed in disbelief. A violent wave of shivers hit Mairon as he stared at the offered hand. He weighed his options, Maiar or not, if he stayed out here he was likely to freeze to death. Decision made, he took a deep breath, and took Gandalf's hand.

Gandalf smiled warmly at the other Maia, and helped him up slowly.

Mairon stared, bewildered at Gandalf's kindness. "But...why?" He asked quietly, following Gandalf as he started to walk.

Gandalf shook his head sadly. "There is already too much death in this time, and I would not be responsible for more. Besides, without that blasted ring of yours, you could do little to me that I could not return." Gandalf said, as he turned up the walkway to a house suddenly.

Mairon nodded slowly, his logic did make sense. He peered over Gandalf's shoulder as he knocked on the door of the house. "Is this not... Your home?" Mairon asked, obviously confused.

Gandalf laughed. "Oh no, I was simply visiting! Which is quite lucky for you! Although, you may not think the same.”

It was then that the lock popped and the door opened and Mairon’ breath caught in his throat.

Gandalf grinned. “Ah, Celebrimbor! I'm very glad you have not moved yet, I do not know what I would have done if you had!” He said jollily, much ignoring the hyperventilating Maia behind him.

Celebrimbor raised a brow, staring strangely at Mairon. “Is uh… your friend alright?”

Mairon stared at the face of his one time friend, feeling extremely thankful for the fact that he did not know the face of this form.

Gandalf glanced back at Mairon, looking only slightly concerned. “Ah yes… This may take a while…. May we come in?”

Celebrimbor nodded slowly, glancing worriedly at Mairon as he held the door open for the two of them to enter. “Come, sit.” He said, gesturing to the couch in his living room.

Gandalf nodded his thanks before sitting. Mairon still stood, his panicked gaze flicking from Celebrimbor to Gandalf.

Gandalf took pity on the Maia, addressing him to break him out of his stupor. “Well don't just stand there, come, sit!”

Mairon nodded mechanically, moving slowly to sit next to Gandalf.

Celebrimbor raised a brow, but did not voice his concern. “Now, what is all this about?”

“I was hoping you'd be able to house my friend for a time. He has recently been reborn and is quite understandably confused.” Gandalf said, patting Mairon’s shoulder a little too hard.

Celebrimbor nodded. “I'd be more than happy to house him.” He said with a smile. “It seems he is slightly out of sorts… may I know his name?”

Mairon turned his panicked gaze to Gandalf, who, to his relief, shook his head.

“It is probably best you ask him that after I leave, which, I should probably be doing soon…” Gandalf said, using his staff to pull himself up off the couch. “I'm terribly sorry I cannot stay longer, but I have prior commitments to attend to. I will return before the week is over to make sure everything is alright.” And with that, he let himself out of the house, leaving the elf and Maia alone.  
Mairon shuffled awkwardly as the door slammed shut, his panic growing as the realisation set in that Olórin had left him alone with Celebrimbor.

Celebrimbor cleared his throat to break the awkward silence. “So, what is your name, my friend?”

Mairon remained silent, his eyes wide and filled with panic as he tried to come up with a name he had not used before. “Err, Miriam.” He instantly regretted his choice, realising he had just said a girl’s name, though if Celebrimbor was at all confused, he did not show it.

“Well Miriam, we best go get you some clothes, we can’t have you walking around like that, can we?” He said, gesturing towards the white robes that Mairon wore. “I take it you have been reembodied recently?” He asked kindly.

Mairon swallowed thickly, Celebrimbor’s kindness unnerving him. “Yes…” He said awkwardly, only really realising that he had in fact been reembodied.

Celebrimbor nodded. “Well, I can lend you some of my clothing while we go out, though they will most likely be quite a bit too small on you. Wait here and I will grab some.” He said with a smile, before hurrying off to his room.

Mairon let out a breath as he was left alone, his mind reeling at what had taken place in the past few hours. He really just wanted to know why he had been reembodied, and why, out of all the elves Gandalf could have place him with, he chose the one that he had betrayed most in life. Mairon shook his head, trying to clear his mind and calm down, as panicking would get him no where in this situation. He glanced around the room, looking at photos and knick-knacks that Celebrimbor had procured over the ages, his gaze landing on a rather old looking photo of two elves, one red haired and the other black. He scowled, instantly recognizing the two eldest Fëanorians. Mairon was drawn from his angry musings about Fëanorians when Celebrimbor entered back into the room, clothing in hand.

Celebrimbor held the clothing out to Mairon, who took them, and started to appraise them as if they were some sort of foreign object, which they were, to him at least, as he had never been given a pair of jeans and a t-shirt before.  
“The bathroom is down the hall and the second door on your left, you can change in there.” Celebrimbor said, gesturing to said hall as he flopped on his couch. “Take your time, there’s really no rush. I know this all must be a little overwhelming.” He said as he noticed the dumfounded look on Mairon’s face.

Mairon nodded slowly, and stepped out of the room, following Celebrimbor’s directions to the bathroom. He stepped in and shut the door, gazing around the room with confusion as he tried to figure out what everything was. The bath tub was easy enough to figure out, but it took him a few moments to deicide that the toilet was a glorified chamber pot. He breathed deeply. “This is crazy.” He mumbled. “This is actually insane.” He continued, staring down at the pile of clothing Celebrimbor gave him. He pulled the white robes off, scowling at them as he tossed them to the floor. He had always hated white clothing, not because he was ‘evil’ or anything, just because they were so easily dirtied. He attempted to pull on the pants first, deciding instantly that he hated them, the garment so tight it pretty much hugged him as a second skin, he did not know if it was because there was that big of a size difference between him and Celebrimbor, or if Celebrimbor just had poor taste in apparel. He shook the thoughts from his head before hastily throwing the shirt on, and making his way back to the main sitting room.

Celebrimbor was reading a book and did not look up as Mairon entered the room. “Ah, are you done? Is there anything else you’d like before we go? Maybe some food?” He asked, only just looking up from his book. He look Mairon up and down and started snickering.

Mairon scowled, glaring at the snickering elf. “What’s so funny?”

Celebrimbor grinned. “Ah, I suppose I should have expected this, but Miriam, your shirt is on inside out and backwards.” He said, still snickering slightly.

Mairon scowled, pulling the shirt roughly off with a grumbled, his ire growing as Celebrimbor made a choking noise. “What, have you never seen a torso before?” Mairon asked sarcastically.

Celebrimbor shook his head apologetically. “No it’s not that, but… Miriam I thought you said you had just been reembodied…” Celebrimbor asked quietly.  
Mairon made a confused face. “I was…”

Celebrimbor nodded slowly. “Then… sorry this may not be within my right to ask, but then why do you have so many scars, my friend?” He asked, making a slightly concerned face.

Mairon’s confusion grew as he glanced down at his torso and the scars the littered it. “Oh those? Does Námo normally rid people of their scars when they are reembodied?” He asked, genuinely curious.

Celebrimbor nodded, his concern growing. “Yes, I have never seen someone be reembodied with scars of their previous life.”

Mairon shifted awkwardly, not really knowing what to say about his scars, as they followed him from form to form. “Oh…” He mumbled, finally pulling his shirt on, the right way this time. He stood, awkwardly looking everywhere except at Celebrimbor.

Celebrimbor nodded slowly, dropping the conversation that was obviously making the other uncomfortable. “Well… We should go now, then. I can introduce you to the wonder that is Walmart.” He said, grin back on his face as if nothing had happened at all.

Mairon titled his head slightly, looking more then a little like a confused dog. “What is this ‘Walmart’ you speak of?”

“It’s like, a large indoor marketplace, you can pretty much buy everything you need there.” Celebrimbor said idly, as he looked through shoes to try and find a pair that would at least almost fit Mairon. He decided on a pair and gave them to him. “Here you go, again, they’ll probably be a bit tight.”

Mairon accepted the shoes and stooped down to put them on, tying the laces in the messiest knot Celebrimbor had ever seen. When he had finished, Celebrimbor grabbed his keys out of a bowl near the door, along with two jackets, handing one to Mairon. “This at least should fit you okay, It’s quite baggy.” Mairon gladly accepted the coat, instantly grateful for the warmth it provided as he put it on, even in a heated house, it was still too cold for Maia who was used to flaming forges and volcanos.

Celebrimbor opened the door and the two stepped outside, Mairon able to survey the streets now that he was not in danger of dying from hypothermia. He watched as Celebrimbor descended the steps and turned into his driveway, towards his car.

“What on earth is that?” Mairon asked, as he followed after him, examining the car.

Celebrimbor grinned at the Maia’s perplexed face. “It’s a car. The simplest way I can explain it is that it’s like a horse… but it’s a machine?” He said, uncertain of his own description, which seemed to leave the Maia more confused then he was to begin with. He sighed, and opened the passenger door for him. “Just… get in, it will be easier to show you.” 

Mairon complied, awkwardly climbing into the car and plopping himself down on the seat. He watched, perplexed as 

Celebrimbor grabbed his seat belt, reached over him, and buckled it in.

“What’s the purpose of this?” He growled, pulling at the seat belt.

Celebrimbor sighed. “It stops you from flying out of the car if we crash.”  
“Oh.” Mairon said, perplexed by the answer, but he stopped pulling at the seat belt, reasonably certain that it was in fact, necessary. He watched as Celebrimbor shook his head, and pushed the door shut, causing the Maia to jump a little, not that he would ever admit to it.

Celebrimbor walked around the other side and climbed in, buckling himself in. “Alright.” He said with a smirk, obviously excited to see the Maia’s reaction to driving, “Let’s go.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Celebrimbor buys Mairon clothes. Mairon does not approve.

Celebrimbor grinned at the Maia beside him, who was currently sticking his head out the window as they drove down the highway. He had purposely decided to take the long route to Walmart after seeing the Maia’s reaction to driving.

Mairon cackled as the wind blew his hair wildly, making it resemble a wild flame. He grinned as the wind buffeted his face, Celebrimbor laughing beside him. “I assume you like it?” Celebrimbor said with a grin as he glanced at Mairon.

Mairon pulled his head back into the car, grin still plastered on his face and hair everywhere. “It’s enjoyable.”

Celebrimbor burst into laughter at the Maia’s appearance, it was not everyday you got to see such a ‘noble’ being in such a disheveled state.

Celebrimbor, still grinning and trying to contain his laughter, pointed at the glove box in front of Mairon. “There is a hair brush in there you can use.”

Mairon nodded, and set at the task of trying to get the glove box open, which took a few minutes, much to Celebrimbor’s amusement. When he finally got it open, his face lit up as he looked at all the objects he had never seen before. 

“What’s this?” He asked, pulling out a packet of gum.

“It’s gum. It’s kind of like food, except you don’t swallow it, you just chew it. You can have a piece, just pop it out.” Celebrimbor answered, smiling.

Mairon nodded, pushing against the gum packet and accidentally popping the gum out everywhere. “Oops…” He said sheepishly, retrieving one of the fallen gums.

Celebrimbor laughed. “It’s alright, I can get a new pack later. Go on then, try it.” He said, eager to see the Maia’s reaction to the gum.

Mairon hesitantly popped the gum into his mouth and started chewing slowly, his eyes lighting up as he did so. “It feels like I’m chewing on ice!” He exclaimed, dumbfounded by the minty taste.

Celebrimbor smiled. “I suppose it does.” He said, as he turned the car into the Walmart parking lot, and quickly finding a parking spot. “Here we are!” He said as he watched Mairon examine the parking lot and the building.

Celebrimbor showed Mairon how to unbuckle himself and then they both exited the car, Mairon’s demeanor not unlike that of a small child going to Disney World.

Mairon glanced around at the people walking past as the two made their way to the door, they were all wearing the same strange apparel consisting of too tight pants and misfitting baggy shirts. He supposed that it did look a little nice.

Celebrimbor grinned as they neared the door, watching Marion's face grow astonished as they neared the automatic doors, and they opened.

“Is this some sort of sorcery?” Mairon said with a gasp, waving his arm tentatively between the doors, half expecting them to slam shut and sever his arm from his body.

Celebrimbor laughed as he laid his hand on Mairon’s back, pushing him gently through the door. “I guess you could say that."

Mairon paused slightly as they entered the store, glancing around at the sights before him, his eyebrows furrowed as he tried to figure out what was going on, as Celebrimbor did not exactly explain what was going on. “Uh… so what exactly is this place..?” he asked as Celebrimbor grabbed a cart sitting next to the door.

Celebrimbor made a humming noise as he thought. “Could you tell me about when you died…? Just so I can equate it to something you're familiar with.” he said, rushing his explanation a bit as to not sound insensitive.

Mairon paused, thinking for a bit, he was never one to really keep track of the time properly. “The end of the third age…” he said, glancing at the ground slightly as to not let Celebrimbor see his face.

Celebrimbor nodded, nudging both the cart and Mairon forwards towards the clothing section. “Well it's like a village market almost, with many many different stalls of all sorts of product, except all the stalls are owned by the same person… Does that make any sense?” he said.

Mairon shrugged. “A little I suppose.” he said with a small grin.

Celebrimbor laughed. “Well hopefully you'll figure it out as we go along.” he said as they stopped in front of the clothing section. “So you'd probably be a size or two larger than me…” he mumbled, probably thinking out loud. He started forwards with the cart again, stopping every so often to examine clothes and pick some out to place in the cart.

Mairon started after him, but paused, glancing at the section directly beside them, the women's department. “Hey, could I get one of those?” he asked, pointing towards a rack of summer dresses.

Celebrimbor paused his clothing hunt to look at what Mairon was pointing to, and snorted. “Ah but those are women's clothing, Miriam.”

Mairon pulled a puzzled expression, stepping forwards and pulling a dress off the rack, before turning back towards Celebrimbor. “Are they not just robes?” he asked, examining the dress with confusion.  

Celebrimbor shook his head and started towards Mairon. “No, they are dresses. Society has changed much since you've been gone, men no longer wear such flowing clothing, only women do.” He said, as he stopped in front of Mairon, who was obviously baffled.  

“Why not? Am I confined to wear this tight fitting clothing from now on?” he asked in horror, pulling at the jeans uncomfortably.

Celebrimbor snorted. “I suppose you can get one if you truly like it so much, but no, not all jeans are that tight. It probably doesn't help that that too small on you.” Celebrimbor said with a smile.

Mairon nodded slowly, glancing down at the cart where Celebrimbor had started a large collection of clothing, before slowly putting the dress atop the pile, unsure if it was where he was supposed to put it or not.

Celebrimbor examined the pile and nodded. “This should be enough, at least to start, let's go find you a change room and get you started!” he said with a grin, already knowing that his companion would most likely hate him later. He grabbed Mairon’s arm and started towards the change rooms.

“Change… rooms?” Mairon mumbled in question, allowing himself to be pulled off towards the back of the store.

* * *

 

It was over two hours later when the two finally left the store, Celebrimbor happily pushing the cart towards his car as Mairon followed behind him, grumbling about how he was never going into the store again. 

“Oh come on,” Celebrimbor said with a laugh as he popped his trunk open. “it wasn't that bad, was it?” He asked, lifting the bags into the trunk before pushing the trunk shut, starting towards the cart return.

Mairon glared at him. “I enjoy clothing. But I've never done something as abysmal as that in my life. I think you've ruined clothes for me.” He grumbled.

Celebrimbor laughed as he pushed the cart into the return spot. “Come now, it wasn't that much clothing.” He said as they made their way back towards the car.

Mairon scowled at him.  “You forced me into 102 articles of clothing. Only 32 of which we actually bought. I counted.” he glowered, as Celebrimbor started to unlock his door.

Celebrimbor paused, before popping open the door for Mairon. “Huh, no you're right, that is quite a lot . I apologize.” He said with a snicker before turning and moving around the car to hop into the driver's side. “Well now, let's get back home and we'll see if we can't set you up a room, alright?”

Mairon mumbled out an ‘okay’ as he stated at Celebrimbor's beaming face. In that moment he felt more remorse then he had ever felt before.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoops this took a while to get up, sorry about that! 
> 
>  
> 
> Find me on tumblr! 
> 
> belekoroz.tumblr.com


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mairon looses it over some carrots (but not really).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have no excuses ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯

Mairon groaned as Celebrimbor pulled his car into his driveway and parked. He had opened the door and jumped out even before the elf had turned the vehicle off. He had evidently been too preoccupied on the way there to realise that riding in that car was the most uncomfortable thing ever, as Celebrimbor barely fit in it and he was quite a few inches shorter than the Maia.  

Celebrimbor hopped out after him and stretched his arms, groaning. “Here, I'll need some help with the bags.” He said, waving Mairon towards the trunk.  

 Mairon groaned and reluctantly went over, taking some of the bags that Celebrimbor had pulled out. He really just wanted to nap, and not wake up until the elf and this entire situation was gone.

 Celebrimbor smiled at Mairon’s groan. “Come on now, just a few bags of stuff to put away and then I’ll make us some food.” He said, handing Mairon a fistful of bag handles and grabbed the rest from the trunk, slamming it shut after he had grabbed them.

 Mairon glanced down at the bags. “I am still slightly confused, do you no longer get your clothes tailored for you in this age?” It would help to avoid the dreadful task of trying on article after article of clothing to find a fit, and then repeating- they had been in that dreadful place for hours.

 Celebrimbor shrugged, placing his bags down on his porch as he unlocked his door. “Tailors still exist, but they’re not necessary any more, and they’re hardly affordable. Besides, those clothes fit you fine, don’t they?” He said, pushing the door open, holding it for Mairon as he stepped in, before letting it shut behind them.

 “Yes, but, that had to have been the most dreadful hours of my life, and believe me, I’ve had some dreadful hours.” He said, very unamused, as he placed the bags he had down on the living room floor.

 Celebrimbor snorted. “Well they couldn’t have been too bad then, could they have?” He said lightheartedly, although he realised after he said it that it may have been insensitive, considering the scars he had seen littering the other’s body.

 Mairon seemed thoughtful, before nodding. “The second most dreadful hours of my life. Maybe third, definitely not fourth though.” He said, flopping down on to the couch.

 Celebrimbor smiled and shook his head as he picked up Mairon’s deposited bags to put away. He was glad Mithrandir had chosen him to watch over him, he had not really realised it until now, but he had been very lonely over the years.

 

* * *

 

 

“Come now Miriam, I’ll need your help in the kitchen if you want dinner done quickly.” Celebrimbor said as he emerged from his guest room, which he supposed would be Miriam’s room for the foreseeable future.

 Mairon glared at Celebrimbor. “Do you not have kitchen maids for such things?”

 Celebrimbor stared at Mairon for a minute, baffled, before bursting out laughing when he realised he was serious. “Oh dear you really have no idea how this time works, do you?”

 Mairon continued to glare harder, it was hardly his fault he spent the last few centuries as a houseless spirit. He stopped mid thought, realising it was _technically_ his fault. Only a little bit thought. “So, you’re telling me you prepare all your own food? How dull.” He droned.

 Celebrimbor shrugged, still smirking. “I rather like it actually, gives you something to do. I’m rather good at it too.” He said, puffing his chest out a little. Mairon just scowled.

 “An elf lord? Good at cooking? Hard to believe.” He said with a scoff. Celebrimbor just scowled back.

 “I’ll just have to show you then.” He said with a smirk. “Now come on, off the couch, I won’t have you lazing around like a dog, you have to help too if you want to eat.”

 Mairon buried his face into a pillow. He still very much just wanted to get up and leave, lack of survival skills be damned. “And what if I don’t want to eat.” He said, voice muffled by the pillow he had so gracefully jammed his face into.

 Celebrimbor rolled his eyes. “Come on now.” He said, forcefully shoving Mairon off the couch.

 Mairon yelped as he fell to the floor, glaring up at the elf. If anyone else had done that, he’d have killed them for their insolence, Celebrimbor was just lucky he had already killed him once, or else he would have done it now. Although killing him again was tempting, he considered it rather undignifying. He let out an exaggerated groan as he pushed himself off the floor, shuffling after Celebrimbor, his eyes glaring holes into his back as he did.

 Celebrimbor stopped in front of the fridge, opening it and grabbing a bag of carrots. He handed them to Mairon, ignoring the glare the man was still giving him. He reaches into a drawer, pulling out a cutting knife, holding it out to him as he nodded at a cutting board sitting on his counter. “I expect you’ll be able to handle chopping some carrots?”

 Mairon stared at the knife Celebrimbor was holding out to him, absolutely baffled, he knew he was trusting but this was just plain ridiculous. He stared at it for a few more moments, before bursting out laughing at the ludicrous scenario, Celebrimbor unknowingly handing his killer a knife, _to chop carrots._

 Celebrimbor looked baffled. He could hardly see what was funny. “Is something wrong?”

 Mairon shook his head quickly. “Nothing, nothing, I just… Carrots!” He said, laughing harder as he finished, holding on to the counter top as to stop himself from falling in his laughing fit.

 Celebrimbor nodded slowly, looking slightly concerned. “Alright….” He said slowly, placing the knife next to the cutting board. “You can get started on the when you’re done uh, whatever it is you’re doing. I’m going to start peeling potatoes.” He said, shaking his head as he turned towards his sink.

 Mairon stopped, staring at the knife Celebrimbor had given to him, before staring up at Celebrimbor, who was now peeling potatoes into the sink. He had given him a knife. And then just turned his back on him. Mairon lost it, sliding down the side of the counter onto the floor in a fit of laughter.

 Celebrimbor stopped, glancing back at him, somehow looking even more baffled and concerned then before. “I had no idea someone could find carrots so amusing.” He said, shaking his head as he turned back towards the sink, continuing to peel potatoes.

 Mairon just continued to laugh, even if he did want to kill Celebrimbor a second time, there was no way he would do it in a manner like this, he had practically handed his life to him on a silver platter! Where was the dignity in that!

 Celebrimbor sighed, shaking his head as he finished the last potato. He grabbed a pot off his pot rack, filling it with water as he glanced back at the hysteric man behind him, continuing to wonder how chopping carrots could be so amusing to him. He sat the full pot on a burner on his stove, flicking it on to boil. “I’ll be right back, need to use the washroom. Feel free to chop those carrots at any time.” He said, rolling his eyes as he walked out of the room.

 Mairon continued to giggle as Celebrimbor walked out of the kitchen. Attempting to control his giggles, he hoisted himself from the floor, staring curiously at the pot Celebrimbor has put on the stove. He stepped in front of it, eyeing it strangely, what did he plan to do with it? He held his hand out towards it, freezing partway as he realised the red thing the pot sat on was emanating heat comparable to the embers of a burnt-out fire. He grinned as he shot his hand forwards, laying his hand on the exposed part of the red metal. Initially he was confused, the normal welcoming warmth of the heat against his skin was absent, and then suddenly his hand burst into pain. He let out a screech as he threw himself backwards, slipping on the tiled floor as he did so, his head connecting with a crack on the kitchen island as he fell, effectively knocking him unconscious.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mairon decides that knocking yourself out is undignified.

Mairon groaned as he blinked blearily, swatting towards the annoying noise coming to the right of him, his head already hurt like hell, and the noises were not helping. Eventually, the noise became too insistent to ignore. He blearily opened his eyes, the world blurry and swaying. He turned his head slowly to the right, but the whole world seemed to tip, taking him with it, sending him toppling into Celebrimbor.

“Miriam!” Celebrimbor cried as he caught the others falling body. “What on earth happened!?” He said as he slowly straightened Mairon, holding him up at arm's length.

Mairon blinked at him slowly, confused. “Whaa….” He mumbled, lifting his hand slowly to rub his aching head, recoiling with a yelp as it brushed against his hair, searing pain erupting from it.

Celebrimbor quickly grabbed the other's wrist to hold his hand steady, examining his hand carefully. “Oh my goodness what have you done to your hand?” He said, his voice full of alarm as he stared at Mairon’s red and blistered hand, his initial thought was the poor man had managed to chop his finger off with the knife, but he quickly realized that wound was already healed and scarred over. Briefly, he wondered how he had lost it, but he shook his head, going back to the issue at hand. The man had clearly burned his hand badly. “Stay here, and don’t try to move.” He said quickly, leaning Mairon gently back against the counter.

Mairon mumbled a reply, closing his eyes as he tried to block out the pain of both his head and his hand. He still did not fully understand what happened.

Celebrimbor returned quickly with a tube of burn cream and a roll of bandages, hastily kneeling in front of Mairon. “Miriam, this might sting a little but you need to make sure you hold still, alright?”

Mairon gave a mumble as a reply, and Celebrimbor took it as an okay. He carefully took Mairon’s hand, depositing some of the cream onto the center of his hand, and slowly rubbed it onto the whole burn, eliciting a hiss from Mairon. When he was done, he examined it again, making sure the whole burn had a good amount of cream on it. Satisfied that the whole thing was covered, he unrolled the bandages, taking a fair amount, and started to wrap the hand with it.

Mairon stared blearily at Celebrimbor, fortunately, the fog in his vision was starting to clear, and the world was swaying less. “What happened…?” He mumbled.

Celebrimbor looked up from the hand. “You’ve managed to burn yourself, on the stove I assume, I’ve no idea where you would have done it otherwise.” He said as he cut the bandage, tucking the loose end under the other layers.

Mairon’s eyes widened slightly, he lifted his now bandaged hand from Celebrimbor’s hands, examining it with a confused gaze. “Burnt…?” He said, baffled.

Celebrimbor nodded, looking at Mairon with concern. “Yes burnt, and it appears you’ve also hit your head rather hard. I’ll have to check to make sure you are not concussed.” He said, standing and hurrying out of the room.

Mairon only half listened to him, continuing to stare baffled at his hand. Burnt? How was that possible? He used to bathe in lava for goodness sake. How had this machine managed to burn him with a heat only comparable to that of a small fire? He put his hand in his lap slowly and looked up as Celebrimbor entered the room again, a small penlight in his hand.

Celebrimbor kneeled in front of Mairon once again. “I’m going to shine this light in your eyes, try not to blink or flinch away alright?” He said as he flicked the light on, shining it in first Mairon’s right eye and then his left, watching carefully as the pupils contracted and dilated. He leaned back again, clicking the light off. “You appear to be alright, luckily. The bump on your head makes it look like you hit it rather hard.” He said with a grimace.

Mairon reached his hand up to feel his head once again, this time with his left hand. He felt the bump gently, wincing in pain from the contact. He quickly decided that touching it was a bad idea, lowering his hand back into his lap, leaning back against the counter, closing his eyes again to try and block out the throbbing pain from his head and hand.

Celebrimbor laid his hand on Mairon’s arm. “Hey, if you’re going to do that you should at least move to the couch.” He said worriedly, the position did not look comfortable at all.

Mairon opened his eyes again, glaring blearily at Celebrimbor for even suggesting the idea that he move, but he conceded, it would be much more comfortable. “Alright…” He mumbled, attempting to pull himself up with his good hand on the countertop, but he failed horribly, toppling over again, only saved from hitting the floor by Celebrimbor’s quick reflexes.

Celebrimbor slowly helped the bleary man stand up. “Okay, so we’re not going to try walking by yourself for a few hours at least, not with the number of times you’ve almost fallen over. One head injury is already too many, let’s try not to get another one, alright?” He said with a small smile as he slowly led the other out of the kitchen. He figured trying to lighten the mood wouldn’t hurt.

Mairon gave the other a dirty look at the mention of him falling so much, it was undignified. This whole situation was undignified. He not only burnt his hand, which he still didn’t understand how it happened, he had managed to fall over and knock himself unconscious on a counter. He scowled more as he thought about it, the fact that he had to be helped around by Celebrimbor of all people did not make it any better.

Celebrimbor stopped them in front of the couch, helping Mairon slowly lower himself onto the couch.

The other man let out a groan as he let himself sink back into the cushions, he did admit that Celebrimbor was right to move him here, it was much more comfortable than sitting on the floor and leaning against a counter.

Celebrimbor gave him a sad smile. “Alright well, I’ll go finish getting dinner ready to cook, you can just relax, but don’t think you can just injure yourself whenever you want to get out of doing work.” He said with a smirk as he left the room.

Mairon made an annoyed grumbling noise in an attempt to retort, but he just couldn’t find the energy to talk. He sighed, leaning further into the cushion. He relaxed, his breathing evening out as he let himself drift to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh wow, two updates less than 24 hours apart? This is a high achievement for me haha.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mairon discovers libraries still exist.

Mairon woke with a groan, stretching his sore arms out above his head, wincing as his hand brushed against the cushions of the couch. He blinked his eyes open, staring at Celebrimbor, who was sitting at the end of the couch with a book in hand.

“What are you doing…?” Mairon mumbled, rubbing his eyes with his left hand. He sat up, blinking blearily.

Celebrimbor looked up from his book with a smile. “I’m just reading. I should be asking what you’re doing, you’ve been asleep for almost twenty-four hours.” He said with a laugh.

Mairon blinked in surprise. “That long?” He mumbled, mostly to himself.

The elf nodded, placing his book down on the coffee table in front of him. “Well, now that you’re awake, I need to go to the library and I wanted to know if you’d like to come with me?”

Mairon perked up. “Libraries still exist?” He said, trying to hide the excited tone in his voice, but failing.

Celebrimbor let out a bark of laughter. “Yes. Libraries still exist.” He shook his head in amusement, standing up. “Come on now, if you want to go you’ve got to actually get up.”

Mairon grumbled irritably, trying to ignore the pain in his hand, but failing. “Do you have any herbs for pain.” He grumbled.

Celebrimbor looked momentarily confused, before understanding donned his face. “Oh! Painkillers, yes sorry one second!” He said, running into the kitchen and rifling through cupboards as Mairon watched him with an unamused pained look. He ran back in with a pill bottle in his hand, popping it open he deposited two into the other’s hand.

Mairon stared at the pills, confused. “What is this supposed to be…?” He said, examining the pills warily.

Celebrimbor laughed. “They’re pills. Kind of like… compressed herbs I suppose. You just swallow them.” He explained as he popped the lid back on the bottle, setting it on the table.

Mairon nodded. Although still wary, he dropped the pills in his mouth, swallowing them with a disgusted look on his face. “That’s atrocious. What happened to herbal teas.” He hissed out.

Celebrimbor shrugged. “They still exist, pills are just much more effective.” He patted Mairon sympathetically on the shoulder. “Come on now, let’s get going, I’ve got to drop these off before it closes.” He said, grabbing his car keys from the table, and walking to the door.

Mairon grumbled and followed him, slipping on the sandals Celebrimbor had bought him, and followed Celebrimbor out the door.

* * *

Mairon stared out the window of the car, confused, as they pulled up and parked at the library. “This looks nothing like any library I’ve ever seen.” Mairon said in confusion.

Celebrimbor nodded. “You won’t see many libraries like that anymore, there aren’t many of that style left.” He said as he switched off the ignition and pocketed his keys, popping open his door and stepping out.

Mairon grumbled to himself as he fiddled with his seatbelt, still not able to figure out how to work it.

Celebrimbor smirked, amused as he opened Mairon’s door, reaching over him and popping the seatbelt off.

Mairon continued grumbling as he stepped out of the car, closing the door a little too aggressively as he did so. “You’ve probably cursed it or something.” He mumbled out as he followed Celebrimbor to the doors.

Celebrimbor laughed. “You can think that if it makes you feel better about yourself.” He said with a smirk as he opened the door, holding it as Mairon stomped past him, before following. “You can pick out a book or two to borrow if you’d like, don’t take too long though, they close soon. Meet me back here in arounds ten minutes or so.” He said, before walking off to the counter with his books in tow.

Mairon stared around, confused, the layout was nothing like any other library he had ever been in, he also did not enjoy the amount of people meandering around. He sighed and picked a random aisle to walk down, glancing at the titles of the books as he went, not finding anything particularly interesting. He trailed his finger down the spines of the books, stopping on a random one and pulling it out. He took one look at the book he had selected and scowled, the title read ‘Bird’s of prey’ in large bold letters. He put the book back hastily, shaking the thoughts of Manwë from his mind. He moved down the aisle a little further, coming across a large line of matching books. He stopped to look at them, curious, he pulled out the first in the line, the title simply reading ‘Encyclopedia: A’. He hummed, opening the book to a random page to inspect it, seeing that it appeared to be a book explaining things that started with the letter ‘A’. He nodded to himself with a smile, it was perfect. He glanced to the shelf, pulling the next book, letter B, off the shelf, before hurrying down the aisle back to where Celebrimbor left him.

Celebrimbor glanced up from where he was leaning against the wall with his new book in hand as Mairon hurried up to him. “Did you find anything you wanted?”

Mairon nodded at him. “These two.” He mumbled, handing him the two books he had grabbed.

Celebrimbor took the books, staring at them confused. “You want to take out encyclopedias? Are you sure?” He asked the other in confusion.

Mairon nodded at him, irritated that he would even second guess his decision.

Celebrimbor shrugged. “Alright, just wait here and I’ll check everything out.” He said, walking over to the checkout desk.

Mairon watched him walk away, not sure why he needed to check them out when they could just take them, it would be quicker as well.

Celebrimbor did not take very long at least, returning to Mairon with all the books deposited inside the bag he had brought his old books in. “Alright then, let’s get going.” He said, pushing out the door.

Mairon moved to follow, resting his hand on the door he took one more glance back at the library, before pushing the door open and following Celebrimbor out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welp it's only around 1k words long but at least it's something.


	6. Chapter 6

Mairon groaned as he laid face first on his bed, a book haphazardly tossed beside him. He had spent the past two days sitting in his room reading his book, and he felt horrible. He had no clue what exactly was wrong, just that he felt horribly, horribly ill. “Why does Ilúvatar curse me so?” He said with a groan as he rolled onto his back, knocking his book to the floor with a ‘thump’. He laid like that for a few more minutes before a tentative knock sounded on his door.

“Miriam… Come on out, I haven't seen you in two days. I've made dinner for us both.” Celebrimbor said tentatively from the other side of the door, to which Mairon responded with an irritated groan.

Mairon glanced over at the door as he heard it click open, Celebrimbor stepping into the room with a concerned look on his face.

“What on earth have you been doing in here for two days anyways?” Celebrimbor said with a sigh as he stepped over to the bed, picking up the fallen book and placing it on the bedside table.

“Reading.” Mairon grumbled in reply, flopping his head back onto the bed again.

Celebrimbor snorted in amusement, but a concerned frown soon donned his face. “When was the last time you ate something?”

Mairon pause for a moment in thought before answering. “Quite a few thousand years ago.” It was an honest answer, even though he found food quite pleasurable, he had not taken the time to enjoy it since Númenor.

Celebrimbor made an alarmed expression. “You haven't eaten in four days? You've at least been drinking water, right?” He said, his voice full of alarm.

Mairon scoffed in reply. “Of course I've been drinking, I'm not a fool.” He said, rolling his eyes.

“Well apparently you are! You need to eat, come on.” Celebrimbor said, tugging the unamused ginger out of bed, careful to avoid his burnt hand.

Mairon let out a yelp of surprise as the elf suddenly tugged him out of bed and to the floor. He glared at him as he pulled himself up on wobbly legs. He again found himself thinking about how lucky Celebrimbor was that he currently did not wish to maim him.

Mairon followed Celebrimbor out of the room, sulking as he did so. He was displeased to be wasting time on petty things like eating when he could be finishing his book. He sat down angrily on the couch with this thought, and watched Celebrimbor scurry around the kitchen, unamused.

“You're okay with burgers?” He asked, before correcting himself. “Ah, I suppose you wouldn't even know what they are.” He said, grabbing both of their plates and heading back over to Mairon. “They're pretty much just meat sandwiches.” He explained, handing one of the plates off to Mairon, who accepted it, looking suspicious.

“It looks…delectable.” He drawled sarcastically, picking the burger up in his hands to inspect it.

“Hey, don't knock it till you try it.” Celebrimbor said with a chuckle, taking a bite of his own burger.

Mairon raised a disbelieving brow at the elf, but took a small bite regardless. He chewed for moment, and swallowed, eyes wide. “It's, really good.” He whispered, taking another much larger bite.

Celebrimbor laughed. “I'm glad you think so, it's one of my favourite meals so you'll likely be eating it often.” He said, smiling.

Mairon nodded quickly. “That's fine, definitely alright.” He said hurriedly, taking another bite, acting slightly ravenous.

“Slow down there, don't want to get a stomach ache.” Celebrimbor said, grinning at the other's enthusiasm.

Mairon crammed the last bite in his mouth, looking rather pleased with himself. “I…enjoyed it.” He said calmly, after he had finished.

Celebrimbor raised a brow. “I can see that.” He said, finishing off his own burger. He stood, grabbing Mairon's plate along with his own. “Let me just start the dishwasher, then I'd like to take you out for a bit.” He said, mostly to himself, as he moved to the kitchen to put the dishes away.

Mairon stood, following after him curiously. “That doesn't look much like a dish washer.” He mused as he watched Celebrimbor put the dishes away.

Celebrimbor stood shutting the dishwasher. “It's a machine, not a person.” He said in amusement as he started the dishwasher, staring at Mairon in amusement as the maiar watched the dishwasher rumble to life.

“So…it's…a machine that washes dishes?” He asked incredulously. “Would a sl-maid not be more practical? They can do more than just wash dishes.” He mused.

Celebrimbor shook his head. “I'd have to pay for a maid to wash my dishes each time they did them, but this machine will do it for free. Besides, I'd rather not have someone in my house for just the purpose of cleaning.” He said with a shrug.

Mairon nodded slowly. “I suppose that makes sense.” He agreed, not voicing his silent thought about how slaves cost no money and do much much more than just clean dishes. He continued watching the dishwasher rumble away for a few moments while Celebrimbor tidied the kitchen.

“Alright, so we're going to go on a walk, probably to the video rental place.” He said as he finished his tidy, washing his hands quickly.

Mairon shrugged in response, he didn't know what a ‘video rental place’ was, so he just decided to silently agree with the elf.

“Come on now, shoes and coat on.” Celebrimbor said as he left the kitchen, grabbing Mairon's coat and tossing it to him over the island.

Mairon caught it, one of the sleeves smacking him in the face. He looked to Celebrimbor with a glare, but the elf just chuckled. Mairon sighed, putting his cost on as he left the kitchen. He moved to the door, slipping his shoes on while he continued to level Celebrimbor with a glare.

Celebrimbor shook his head in amusement, opening the front door. “Come on now, out you go.” He said with a grin.

Mairon rolled his eyes and stepped outside, walking as moodily as he could, taking extra care to make sure Celebrimbor knew he was unamused with him.

Celebrimbor chuckled in amusement, and followed Mairon outside, shutting and locking the door behind them. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yikes, been a while since I updated. Sorry about that I'm pretty bad at this haha...


End file.
